Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Hook-billed Kites - the "backstory" July 5, 2010
So by now you know there are multiple Hook-billed Kites at Chihuahua Woods Preserve of The Nature Conservancy. I have added earlier posts in date order about the birds and their activities and our efforts to find the nest. I would like to thank Sonia Najera, Paul Bryant, and all the staff at TNC for permission to go off the trails. Thanks also to Mark Conway and Bill Clark for their efforts to locate the actual nest. Most of all, thanks to those who knew about the nest but enjoyed the birds without disturbing them. They are still visible at the Preserve but are seemingly ranging farther away or feeding in different areas. Good luck if you go to look for them. Please do report the kites with information on the plumage of the birds so we can keep track of the chick and the pair. You can report your sightings to rgvbirds@hotmail.com or the RBA, or in eBird add a remark on the age or color of the birds you see in your comments. The last known successful nest was in 2002.
Page down for earlier posts just added about the Hook-billed Kites at Chihuahua Woods.
Mary Gustafson
Page down for earlier posts just added about the Hook-billed Kites at Chihuahua Woods.
Mary Gustafson
Friday, July 2, 2010
July 2, 2010 - Hook-billed Kite - Chihuahua Woods Preserve TNC - Palmview, Texas
Today I had the rare treat of watching a female Hook-billed Kite catching snails in the cow pasture adjacent to the Chihuahua Woods Preserve of The Nature Conservancy. The kite flew into a low perch - a stump or fence post - and then flew off to land on the ground. From the ground she then jumped and grabbed the sapling with her feet and then snatched a snail with her bill. It was an amazing show for about 30 minutes! I didn't see her before or after this extraordinary show!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Hook-billed Kites - post-Hurricane Alex - July 1, 2010
I went out to check on the Hook-billed Kites today. I found the female feeding quite close to the access road.
She flew in repeatedly and landed in a small snag. From the snag she peered around and then dropped to the ground, often quite close to the perch. She quickly reappeared and I could see her eating snails. She seemed to be taking a long time to process each snail, until I realized that the snails were in clumps - presumably mating - and she was grabbing a clump each time she went to the ground.
She then ate all but one snail in the clump, and took that last snail to the feeding perch by the nest.
Although their diet is almost entirely Rhabdotus snails, the Hook-billed Kites are attacked by resident nesting birds including Northern Mockingbird, Western Kingbird, and Red-winged Blackbird.
The nest is so flimsy I had to check on the chick after the arrival and departure of Tropical Storm Alex. Here is the check, standing up and feisty, waiting for the next snail delivery.
Time to get out and leave things be.
She flew in repeatedly and landed in a small snag. From the snag she peered around and then dropped to the ground, often quite close to the perch. She quickly reappeared and I could see her eating snails. She seemed to be taking a long time to process each snail, until I realized that the snails were in clumps - presumably mating - and she was grabbing a clump each time she went to the ground.
She then ate all but one snail in the clump, and took that last snail to the feeding perch by the nest.
Although their diet is almost entirely Rhabdotus snails, the Hook-billed Kites are attacked by resident nesting birds including Northern Mockingbird, Western Kingbird, and Red-winged Blackbird.
The nest is so flimsy I had to check on the chick after the arrival and departure of Tropical Storm Alex. Here is the check, standing up and feisty, waiting for the next snail delivery.
Time to get out and leave things be.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Hook-billed Kite nest - Monday June 28, 2010
Bill Clark, Mark Conway, and Mike Miller came out to help locate the nest. Bill and Mark bushwacked into the thicket (with the permission of TNC, of course!) and after laboring for at least 3/4 mile, Mark Conway found the nest - very close to where they entered the thicket. There was one chick (1-2 is normal) and the chick was mostly grown. Here you can see it sitting in the nest facing left - only the eye is really visible.
Needless to say the Hook-billed Kite pair was not pleased with their activities, but they quickly resumed feeding after we cleared out of the area of the nest. Here's the female again.
Needless to say the Hook-billed Kite pair was not pleased with their activities, but they quickly resumed feeding after we cleared out of the area of the nest. Here's the female again.
Hook-billed Kite - June 26, 2010 evening
Saturday night I went back out and saw the male make three feeding trips between 6 PM and 6:20 PM. I've had to lighten these up a bit. He's very dark gray, but you can see the barring on the belly - definitely not a black morph bird. He didn't reappear before 7 PM when I left. I did not see the female.
Hook-billed Kites - June 26, 2010
You know, it's hot here in the summer in deep South Texas, and a bit boring bird-wise until migration gets going again. It's a great time to watch bird behavior or go hiking if you like solitude... and you do it early in the morning.
So I'm walking into Chihuahua Woods, a TNC property west of Mission, Texas on June 26. I've been meaning to come for some time, and just haven't been able to make it. It's about 7:30 AM, and the day is going to get really hot really soon. It's already probably 80F and humid. I walk about 300 feet into the property and I see this bird fly overhead at treetop height.
The local Northern Mockingbirds and Western Kingbirds weren't impressed that the diet of these birds is almost entirely snails.
Hmmm. So I got on the phone to Bill Clark, raptor expert and valley resident. We discussed Hook-billed Kite behavior. I was surprised to learn that the adults shuttle all the snails for the chicks in their bill. They carry the snail in the shell to a feeding perch near the nest, extract the snail, and then carry the snail meat to the nest. Yum! I also called the landowner and arranged an expedition to look for the nest. Stay tuned!
So I'm walking into Chihuahua Woods, a TNC property west of Mission, Texas on June 26. I've been meaning to come for some time, and just haven't been able to make it. It's about 7:30 AM, and the day is going to get really hot really soon. It's already probably 80F and humid. I walk about 300 feet into the property and I see this bird fly overhead at treetop height.
It's a Hook-billed Kite, an adult male. Yepper. Quite the handsome bird! And the weird thing is that it was carrying a snail! I wasn't all that suprised to see him - I'd seen him here in March, but just once. I wasn't quite ready for the next thing I saw.
A female Hook-billed Kite, also adult, also carrying a snail.
And a few minutes later, she went back out, without the snail.
And a few minutes later, she went back out, without the snail.
Repeat several times, snails in, no snails out.
The local Northern Mockingbirds and Western Kingbirds weren't impressed that the diet of these birds is almost entirely snails.
Hmmm. So I got on the phone to Bill Clark, raptor expert and valley resident. We discussed Hook-billed Kite behavior. I was surprised to learn that the adults shuttle all the snails for the chicks in their bill. They carry the snail in the shell to a feeding perch near the nest, extract the snail, and then carry the snail meat to the nest. Yum! I also called the landowner and arranged an expedition to look for the nest. Stay tuned!
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